Integrated circuit connector

ABSTRACT

A device for demountably connecting an integrated circuit package to a printed circuit board. The device employs a dualcontact spring element for connecting each lead of the package to the board by providing two signal paths for each interconnection.

339/17 Q. 75 MP.176 MP 176 MF. 94 M: 317/1l11(C.1()1CP D United StatesPatent 1 1 1111 3,874,768 Cutchaw 1 1 Apr. 1, 1975 '1 S4] INTEGRATEDCIRCUIT CONNECTOR 3x16391 11 5/1972 Lampham c1111.... 339/17 (F c ,1 13119.917 3/1973 Fischer et ul. 339/17 CF 1 1 lnvemu" 1 'F 7333 3.11253997/1974 Rubev 317/1111 cc x Scottsdale. Am. 85257 1- 1 Fufidl IL Primurlivuminvr-Roy Luke [21 I Appl N: 449966 Ann/stun! li.\'mninvr-E. F.Desmond Artur/ivy, AgcnL or Firm-Herbert E. Haynes, Jr.

US. Cl. 339/17 C1 339/75 M 51] Int. Cl. 05k 1/12 1571 ABSTRACT 58] Fieldof Search 339/17 R, 17 A. 17 CF.

A device for demountzibly connecting an integrated circuit package to 11printed circuit board. The device employs 11 dual-contact spring elementfor connecting each lead of the package to the board by providing q LggtSZii;gii two sign-.11 paths for each interconnection. 3 335 32711/1967 Damon ct 111. 339/17 (F X Claims, 9 Drawing Figures fit 3 14 3941 1"- 26 "1'111 40 Z 2 2 11 1 42 w 2 '1 1 1 11. 36 5 44 58 e2 20 3o 2PATENTEB APR 1 5 STU 2 BF 2 Isw INTEGRATED CIRCUIT CONNECTOR BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention pertains toconnectors and more particularly to a connector for removably mountingan integrated circuit package on a printed circuit board and providingreliable electrical interconnection therebetween.

2. Description of the Prior Art The art of mounting an integratedcircuit package on a printed circuit board has long been known toinvolve two basic design considerations. The first of these designconsiderations is to provide a reliable electrical connection, and thesecond is to mount the integrated circuit package so that it can beremoved from the circuit board for maintenance and testing purposes.

Reliability of the electrical connection must be provided so that no airor moisture enters into the pores or irregularities of the metal tocause corrosion at the connection. This type of connection is sometimesreferred to as a gas tight connection. If corrosion takes place. adecrease in signal strength will result due to an increase in theimpedance of the connection. and in some instances complete failure ofthe connection may result.

The dense package arrays desirable in modern electronic equipment haveincreased the cost of individual circuit board assemblies to the pointthat stockpiling a spare of each type of board at the equipmentinstallation site is very expensive. The current trend therefore. is torepair the board at the installation whenever possible. In the processof trouble shooting a printed wiring board assembly, it is oftennecessary to resort to the substitution method; that is. removal andreplacement of one or more packages until the trouble has beencorrected.

The well known solder technique is commonly employed for interconnectionof integrated circuit packages to a printed board. While this techniqueprovides very reliable gas tight electrical connections, it also makesassembly and removal of the package difficult due to the necessity ofapplying heat. The heat necessary to form the solder connection isquickly conducted through the leads into the integrated circuit packagewhich may cause overheating thereof. Overheating can cause cracks in theglass seal and can cause delamination of the integrated circuitsubstrate. Heat also can warp and/or cause delamination of the printedcircuit board. The application of heat is relatively easy to controlduring initial assembly of the circuit board under factory conditions.However, many costly elements and wiring board assemblies have beendestroyed by the application of excessive heat at installation sites.

Due to the problems of replacement inherent with solder connections.many types of demountable connectors have been developed which do notrequire the use of heat in the formation of the electrical connections.These connectors employ what may be called pressure contacts for theformation of the electrical connections.

In general. the pressure contact type of demountable connectorsgenerally employ a housing for mounting and properly registering theintegrated circuit package on the circuit board. The housing is mountedto the circuit board in various ways. such as by screws. in someinstances the housing is provided with a spring contact whichinterconnects the package lead with the mount- LII ing pad of thecircuit board. This technique proved unreliable as it provided twopossible points of failure for each lead of the package. The first pointof failure was the contact between the spring and the lead of thepackage. and the second point of failure was the contact between thespring and the mounting pad of the circuit board. In another instance.the housing was provided with means for applying pressure directly tothe lead of the package and forcing it into pressure contact with themounting pad of the circuit board. This latter technique proved morereliable than the former technique. however. it still did not approachthe reliability of the soldered connection.

From the foregoing. it may be seen that a need exists for a new andimproved connector for mounting an integrated circuit package on aprinted circuit board.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention. adevice for interconnecting an integrated circuit package (LC) and aprinted circuit board is disclosed. The device includes a housing intowhich the [.C. is nestably positioned. The housing containing the LC.may be demountably secured to the printed circuit board such as byscrews or the like. When mounted on the printed circuit board. thehousing positions the LC. so that the leads thereof registeringlycontact the appropriate mounting pads or lands provided on the board.The underside of the housing is provided with a dual-contact springelement for each lead of the circuit package. Each of the dual-contactspring elements has the first end thereof which is in contact with theupper surface of the l.C. lead. and the second end which is in contactwith the mounting pad of the circuit board. This arrangement provides afirst signal path by virtue of the first end of the spring exerting aforce which pressurizes the lead of the LC. package directly intoconductive contact with the mounting pad of the circuit board. A secondsignal path is provided through the spring element itself. This isaccomplished by the first end of the spring element being in electricalcontact with the LC. lead. and the second end being in electricalcontact with the mounting pad. Thus, it may be seen that in the event offailure of one or the other of the signal paths. the remaining signalpath will insure continued operation of the integrated circuit package.

The housing of the present invention may be configured to receive any ofthe LC. package designs in common usage, and may be designed toincorporate a heat dissipating element for those I.C. packages whichcreate excessive heat.

Accordingly. an object of the present invention is to provide a new anduseful device for interconnecting an integrated circuit package and aprinted circuit board.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and usefuldevice for demountably interconnecting an integrated circuit package anda printed circuit board.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and usefuldevice for demountably interconnecting an integrated circuit package anda printed circuit board, said device being easily configured to accomm0- date any of the commonly employed integrated circuit package designs.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and usefuldevice for demountably interconnecting an integrated circuit package anda printed circuit board. said device including a heat dissipatingelement.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and usefuldevice for demountably interconnecting an integrated circuit package anda printed circuit board. said device including a dual-contact spring element for each lead of the integrated circuit package.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new anduseful connector of the above described character in which each of thedual-contact spring ele ments thereof provide two signal paths for theelectrical connections made thereby.

The foregoing and other objects ofthe present invention, as well as theinvention itself, may be more fully understood when read in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is an isometric exploded viewshowing a fragmentary portion of a printed circuit board having one formof integrated circuit package and the connector of the present inventionexploded therefrom.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the circuit board having theintegrated circuit package mounted thereon by the connector of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of a printed circuit board having asecond embodiment of the connector of the present invention mountedthereon.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view talten on the line 5-5of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the connector of the presentinvention showing a first modification thereof.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 showing another modification.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view ofa portion ofthe connector of the presentinvention showing still further modifi cations thereto.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of FIG. 8.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring more particularly tothe drawings, FIG. 1 shows an isometric view of a portion ofa printedwiring board 10 having an integrated circuit 12, and a connector device14 of the present invention exploded therefrom.

The printed circuit board is shown for illustrated pur poses only, andas is well known in the art includes an insulative substrate It) havingwire runs l8 and mounting pads or lands provided in the well knownmanner on the surface thereof The integrated circuit 12 is of the typecommonly referred to as a dual in line package (DIR). The start dardD.I.P. integrated circuit 12 comprises a body 24 which containsminiaturized circuitry. Electrical contact to the internal circuitry ismade through a plurality of leads or prongs 26 extending laterally fromthe sides of the body 24. The prongs 26 extend from the body 24 a shortdistance and are formed to approxi mately 21 90 angle to provide a prongcontact area 30. To accommodate the mounting technique of the pres entinvention, the leads 26 extend downwardly from the 90 bend a shortdistance and are then formed into a second 90 bend so that thc prongcontact areas 30 are downwardly offset from the body 24 and extendIaterally outwardly from the opposite sides thereof.

The connector 14 is provided with a housing 32 which may be formed as bycasting, molding, and the like. from any suitable high qualitydielectric material having good dimensional stability and lowcoefficient of thermal expansion such as polycarbonate, polypropylene,and alloyed synthetic materials.

When the housing 32 is designed to accommodate the DIP type ofintegrated circuit 12, as previously described, the geometricconfiguration of the housing is preferably rectangular as best seen inFIG. 1 of the drawings.

The housing 32 has a rectangular cavity 34 formed therein which isrecessed upwardly from the bottom of the housing Thus, the bottom of thehousing 32 is formed with a pair of opposed downwardly facing sidesurfaces 35 and 36 and a pair of opposed downwardly facing end surfaces37 and 38.

The cavity 34 is provided with length, width and depth dimensions ofsufficient magnitude so that the body 24 of the integrated circuit 12may be nestably positioned therein with the leads 26 protruding belowthe bottom of the housing 32 and the lead contact areas 30 of the leadsare positioned transverse with respect to the side surfaces 35 and 36.

It should be noted that the interior configuration of the cavity 34 isshown as being quite large when compared with the physical size of thebody 24 of the integrated circuit 12. It is contemplated that mountingof the integrated circuit 12 will be accomplished by placing theintegrated circuit 12 upon the circuit board 10 in the proper positionand then assemblying the connector 14 to the board as will be described.Should it be desired to insure proper registry of the integrated circuit12 with respect to the circuit board 10, the cavity 34 may be formed toengagingly contact the body 24 to precisely position the integratedcircuit 12 within the connector 14. Thus, proper registry of theintegrated circuit 12 would automatically be accomplished when theconnector 14 containing the integrated circuit 12 is mounted on theboard.

The housing 32 may be formed with an aperture 39 which communicatesbetween the recessed surface 40 of the cavity 34 and the upper surface41 of the housing 32. This aperture 39 may be formed in the housing 32when dissipation of heat generated by the integrated circuit 12 isdesirable. Otherwise, the aperture 39 may be omitted thus allowing thehousing 32 to be formed into a structure which would seal the integratedcircuit 12 from its environment as will be hereinafter described indetail.

Each of the downwardly facing side surfaces 35 and 36 have a pluralityof apertures 42 formed therein in spaced increments along the lengththereof. Each of the apertures 42 extend upwardly into the housing 32 asseen best in FIG. 2. The number of apertures 42 formed on each of theside surfaces 35 and 36 is determined by the number of leads 26 of theintegrated circuit l2 and the distance between centers of the leads.

A dual-contact spring element 44 is mounted within each of the apertures42 to provide the electrical interconnections between the leads 26 ofthe integrated circuit 12 and the mounting pads 20 of the circuit boardIt The spring elements 44 may be fabricated of copper p ated springsteel, beryllium copper. phosphor bronze,

or the like and may be gold plated to avoid difficulties due tocorrosion and to assure low resistive electrical connections. As seen inFIGS. 2 and 3 the spring elements are in thin ribbons or strips whichare formed into a substantially semicircular configuration to providecontact points 46 and 48 at the opposite ends thereof. Intermediate thecontact points 46 and 48, the spring element 44 is formed with aradially extending loop 50. it will be seen. particularly in FIG. 2,that the loop 50 is somewhat offset from the midpoint between thecontact points 46 and 48 to form the arcuate leg between the loop 50 andpoint 46 shorter than the arcuate leg between the loop 50 and thecontact point 48. The amount of this offset is determined by thethickness dimension of the leads 26 of the integrated circuit 12 and isnecessary to place the contact point 46 above the contact point 48 toinsure proper contact with the lead 26 and the mounting pad as will bedescribed in detail.

The spring elements 44 are mounted to the housing 32 by inserting theloops 50 into the apertures 42. Due to the resiliancy of the materialemployed in forming the elements 44 and the physical shape of the loops50, the elements 44 will be held in place by the spring force exerted onthe walls of the apertures 42 by the loops 50.

As best seen in FIG. 3 a depending divider 52 is formed on the housing32 between each of the apertures 42. The dividers 52 are provided toinsure that twisting, bending or other deformation of the springelements 44 will not result in electrical shorting between adjacentelements 44.

The width dimension of the spring elements 44 is selected to be largerthan the width dimension of the contact areas of the leads 26 of theintegrated circuit 12. This dimensional difference compensates for bentor other misaligned leads 26 which may result due to the delicate natureof the leads.

The connector 14 is preferably attached to the circuit board 10 by meansof screws 54 which pass through apertures 56 formed in the housing 32and enter into aligned apertures 58 formed in the circuit board 10.Captive nuts 60 are provided on the board 10 for being threadinglyengaged by the screws 54. Although only two screws 54 are illustrated inthe drawings, it should be understood that four could be employed withone located at each of the corners of the housing 32. It should also benoted that the exact arrangement of the screws 54 and nuts 60 is notcritical as the captive nuts could just as easily be mounted in thehousing 32 which would therefore necessitate inserting the screws fromthe opposite side of the circuit board.

Stop means 62 are dependingly formed on the housing 32 to prevent thescrews 54 from pulling the housing too close to the surface of thecircuit board 10 which could overstress the spring elements 44 shouldthis be allowed to occur. The stop means 62 are illus trated as bosslike structures through which the screws 54 pass; however. it should beapparent that any type of depending structure would be a functionalequivalent such as solid bosses (not shown) formed at each of the bottomcorners of the housing 32.

Each of the spring elements 44 form a dual signal path interconnectionbetween the leads 26 and the mounting pads 20. The first signal path isformed by contiguous contact between the bottom surface of the lead 26and the upper surface of the mounting pad 20.

This first signal path connection is of the pressure contact type withthe necessary pressure being supplied by a downwardly directed forceexerted by the spring element 44 pushing the contact point 46downwardly. The second signal path is through the spring element 44itself which makes the necessary conductive contacts by virtue of point46 engaging the lead 26 and point 48 directly contacting the samemounting pad 20.

It will be noted that with the integrated circuit 12 mounted within thehousing 21 as previously described the integrated circuit 12 ismechanically retained only by pressure of the spring elements 44 on theleads 26. Thus. vibrations of the circuit board, thermal expansion andthe like will cause relative movements to occur within controlledlimits, such limits being imposed by the interior dimensions of thecavity 34. These controlled movements will cause a wiping action tooccur between the contacting surfaces thus providing self-cleaningpoints of contact.

In view of the foregoing features of self-cleaning contacts anddual-signal paths, it should be readily apparent that the connector l4of the present invention has provided means for removably mountingintegrated circuit packages to printed circuit boards with electricalinterconnections having a reliability approaching that of theconventional soldered connections.

With reference now to FIGS. 4 and 5 wherein an integrated circuit 65 ofa type differing from the DlP previously described, is shown mounted tothe circuit board 10 by means of a modified connector 68 of the presentinvention.

The integrated circuit 65 is shown as being of the type sometimesreferred to as a 2 X 2 ceramic substrate which comprises hybridcombinations of integrated microcircuits and discrete circuitry such asthin and thick films.

It should be noted that it is not intended to limit the scope of thepresent invention to specific types or sizes of integrated circuitpackages. The specific integrated circuits shown and described hereinwere selected merely for descriptive purposes as it is contemplated thatthe connector of the present invention can be configured to accommodatevarious integrated circuit packages without deviation from theprinciples of the invention.

The integrated circuit 65 comprises a body 70 of generally squareconfiguration from each side of which extends the leads 72 which provideelectrical contact with the internal circuitry (not shown) of theintegrated circuit 65..

To accommodate the integrated circuit 65 having the physical propertiespreviously described, the connector 68 is provided with a housing 74 ofgenerally square configuration and of the same type material previouslydescribed with reference to the housing 32 of connector 14. The housingis formed with a square cavity 76 formed therein to extend upwardly fromthe bottom of the housing. A plurality of parallel elongated slots 78are formed in the housing 74 to extend from the upper surface of thehousing downwardly into the cavity 76.

Each of the downwardly facing surfaces 80 (one shown) which form thebottom of the housing '74, has a plurality of apertures 82 formedtherein in spaced increments along the length. As before, the number ofthe apertures and the spacing thereof is determined by the number ofleads 72 and the spacing between the leads.

A dual-contact spring element 44 is mounted within each of the apertures82 and provides the same type of dual signal path as hereinabeforedescribed with reference to connector 14.

Integrated circuits 65 generally have a greater amount of heat build upthan the DIP type integrated circuit 12 and therefore heat dissipationis much more critical in the mounting of the integrated circuit 65. Asseen best in FIG. a heat sink 84 may be employed in conjunction with theconnector 68 for dissipation of heat. The heat sink 84 is preferably ofmetallic construction and comprises a flat plate 86 which is in contiguous contact with the upper surface of the integrated circuit. Aplurality of parallel upstanding fins 88 are integrally formed on theupper surface of the plate 86. The fins 88 are spaced apart with respectto each other a distance which corresponds to the spacing of the slots78 of the housing 74. Each of the fins 88 are positioned to pass throughtheir respectively aligned slots 78 and extend upwardly therefrom. Thus.heat generated by the integrated circuit 65 will be conducted throughthe plate 86 upwardly to the fins 88 which will dissipate the heat byconvection and radiation. It is preferred that the dimensions of theslots 78 and the fins 88 are such that the fins are free to slide withinthe slots to insure that the plate 86 will be held in contiguous contactwith the upper surface of the integrated circuit. To insure efficienttransfer of heat a silicone grease. which is well known to be a goodheat conductor. may be applied to the mating surfaces of the plate 86and the integrated circuit.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 6 and 7 wherein two modifications of thespring element 44 are illustrated. The spring element 440 of FIG. 6 isshown to include an elongated loop portion 501: which passes upwardlythrough the aperture of the housing to provide an end 90 which extendsthereabove. The extending end 90 provides an exposed surface forfacilitating application of test probes (not shown). The spring element44b of HO. 7 is illustrated as being formed with a wire wrap pin 92 inplace of the loop 50. The pin 92 will provide an exposed test probesurface and also facilitate the use of well known wire wrappingtechniques.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate a modification of the construction detailswhich may be applied to either of the connectors 14 and 68. and alsoillustrate an additional feature which may be incorporated therein.

The connector 94 illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9 includes a housing 96having a cavity 98 both of which may be geometrically configured toaccommodate integrated circuits of various sizes and shapes aspreviously described. The housing 96 is of metallic construction forimproved heat dissipation and is provided with downwardly facing bottomsurfaces 100 (one shown) similar to those previously described with theexception that surfaces 100 are each provided with an elongateddownwardly opening channel [02 formed therein. An elongated strip 104 ofinsulative material having a plu' rality of the dual-contact springelements 44 molded or otherwise mounted thereto in spaced increments isinserted within each of the channels 102 and may be retained therein inany of several well known manners such as with suitable adhesive. Theinsulative strips 104 may be provided with depending dividers 106between each of the spring elements 44 for the purposes previouslydescribed.

Should it be desired that an integrated circuit be sealed for preventionof contamination from dust, moisture and the like, the housing 96 may beprovided with an endless depending lip 108 integrally formed on theoutermost edges of the bottom surfaces 100. The lip 108 depends adistance that will position its lowermost surface 110 above the surfaceof the circuit board. An endless sealing gasket 112 is attached such aswith suitable adhesive to the lower surface 110 of the lip 108 whichwill sealingly engage the circuit board when the connector 94 is mountedthereon. The gasket 112 is of resilient material such as sponge rubber.

While the principles of the invention have now been made clear in anillustrated embodiment. there will be immediately obvious to thoseskilled in the art. many modifications of structure, arrangements.proportions. the elements, materials, and components used in thepractice of the invention, and otherwise, which are particularly adaptedfor specific environments and operation requirements without departingfrom those principles. The appended claims are therefore intended tocover and embrace any such modifications within the limits only of thetrue spirit and scope of the invention.

What i claim is:

l. A connector for removably mounting a multilead integrated circuit toa printed wiring board and providing electrical interconnection betweenthe leads of the integrated circuit and conductive elements of thecircuit board, said connector comprising:

a. a housing for demountable attachment to the printed wiring board,said housing having a downwardly opening cavity formed therein intowhich the integrated circuit is nestingly positionable. said housinghaving downwardly facing bottom surfaces extending laterally from theopening of said cavity below at least an opposed pair of which the leadsof the integrated circuit are transversely disposed when the integratedcircuit is positioned within the cavity of said housing; and

b. a plurality of dual-contact spring elements dependingly suspendedfrom at least each of the opposed pair of bottom surfaces of saidhousing for electrically contacting the leads of the integrated circuitand exerting a downwardly directed force thereon when the integratedcircuit is positioned within the cavity of said housing. and forelectrically contacting the conductive elements of the printed circuitboard when said housing is mounted thereon.

2. A connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein said housing is formed ofdielectric material and has a plurality of apertures positioned alongthe length of at least each of the opposed pair of bottom surfaces ofsaid housing and formed to extend upwardly therefrom for dependinglysuspending one of said dual-contact spring elements from each of saidapertures.

3. A connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein said housing has anaperture formed therein to extend downwardly from the upper surface andopen into the cavity thereof.

4. A connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said dual-contactspring elements is a strip of electrically conductive material formedinto a substantially semicircular configuration to provide a firstcontact end and a second contact end and having a radially extendingloop substantially intermediate the first and second contact ends.

5. A connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said dual-contactspring elements is a strip of electrically conductive material formedinto a semicircular configuration to provide a first contact end and asecond contact end between which a radially extending protrusion isprovided, said protrusion being insertable within an upwardly extendingaperture formed in the bottom surface of said housing for mounting saiddualcontact spring element thereto.

6. A connector as claimed in claim 5 wherein said radially extendingprotrusion comprises a loop formed in said strip of material. said loopbeing of sufficient elongation to extend upwardly from the bottomsurface of said housing and be exposed adjacent to the upper surface ofsaid housing.

7. A connector as claimed in claim 5 wherein said radially extendingprotrusion comprises a wire-wrapping pin attached to said strip ofmaterial and of elongated dimension to extend upwardly from the bottomsurface of said housing to a location above the upper surface of saidhousing.

8. A connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein said housing is providedwith a plurality of parallel elongated slots formed in the upper surfacethereof and extending downwardly into the cavity of said housing.

9. A connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein said housing is providedwith an endless depending lip integrally formed on the outermost edgesof the bottom surfaces of said housing. said depending lip having alowermost end upon which a sealing gasket is affixed.

10. A connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein said housing is formed ofmetallic material and at least the opposed pair of the bottom surfacesthereof are each formed with an elongated downwardly opening channel forreceiving an elongated strip of insulative material from which aplurality of said dual-contact spring elements are dependingly suspendedin spaced increments along the length thereof.

l Il l

1. A connector for removably mounting a multilead integrated circuit toa printed wiring board and providing electrical interconnection betweenthe leads of the integrated circuit and conductive elements of thecircuit board, said connector comprising: a. a housing for demountableattachment to the printed wiring board, said housing having a downwardlyopening cavity formed therein into which the integrated circuit isnestingly positionable, said housing having downwardly facing bottomsurfaces extending laterally from the opening of said cavity below atleast an opposed pair of which the leads of the integrated circuit aretransversely disposed when the integrated circuit is positioned withinthe cavity of said housing; and b. a plurality of dual-contact springelements dependingly suspended from at least each of the opposed pair ofbottom surfaces of said housing for electrically contacting the leads ofthe integrated circuit and exerting a downwardly directed force thereonwhen the integrated circuit is positioned within the cavity of saidhousing, and for electrically contacting the conductive elements of theprinted circuit board when said housing is mounted thereon.
 2. Aconnector as claimed in claim 1 wherein said housing is formed ofdielectric material and has a plurality of apertures positioned alongthe length of at least each of the opposed pair of bottom surfaces ofsaid housing and formed to extend upwardly therefrom for dependinglysuspending one of said dual-contact spring elements from each of saidapertures.
 3. A connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein said housing hasan aperture formed therein to extend downwardly from the upper surfaceand open into the cavity thereof.
 4. A connector as claimed in claim 1wherein each of said dual-contact spring elements is a strip ofelectrically conductive material formed into a substantiallysemicircular configuration to provide a first contact end and a secondcontact end and having a radially extending loop substantiallyintermediate the first and second contact ends.
 5. A connector asclaimed in claim 1 wherein each of said dual-contact spring elements isa strip of electrically conductive material formed into a semicircularconfiguration to provide a first contact end and a second contact endbetween which a radially Extending protrusion is provided, saidprotrusion being insertable within an upwardly extending aperture formedin the bottom surface of said housing for mounting said dual-contactspring element thereto.
 6. A connector as claimed in claim 5 whereinsaid radially extending protrusion comprises a loop formed in said stripof material, said loop being of sufficient elongation to extend upwardlyfrom the bottom surface of said housing and be exposed adjacent to theupper surface of said housing.
 7. A connector as claimed in claim 5wherein said radially extending protrusion comprises a wire-wrapping pinattached to said strip of material and of elongated dimension to extendupwardly from the bottom surface of said housing to a location above theupper surface of said housing.
 8. A connector as claimed in claim 1wherein said housing is provided with a plurality of parallel elongatedslots formed in the upper surface thereof and extending downwardly intothe cavity of said housing.
 9. A connector as claimed in claim 1 whereinsaid housing is provided with an endless depending lip integrally formedon the outermost edges of the bottom surfaces of said housing, saiddepending lip having a lowermost end upon which a sealing gasket isaffixed.
 10. A connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein said housing isformed of metallic material and at least the opposed pair of the bottomsurfaces thereof are each formed with an elongated downwardly openingchannel for receiving an elongated strip of insulative material fromwhich a plurality of said dual-contact spring elements are dependinglysuspended in spaced increments along the length thereof.